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Good humor is the kind that can get you through anything – even the toughest job.  It's been known to change perceptions, avert disasters and improve relationships.  It's also emerging as one of the most unlikely techniques to keep employees productive.  Make them laugh, keep them happy and they'll perform better.

How humor keeps employees productive
According to consultant Steven Cony, humor obviously works.  With humor, he says, the management is able to show employees that it cares about its workers.  That encourages people to show up for work.  With humor, they are much more relaxed and are more likely to work harder.

Humor is also associated with fun, camaraderie, something light and friendly.  It also takes away whatever aggressiveness is present.  As a result, employees don't feel threatened or bullied into performing. 

Instead, they find the work environment highly enjoyable, something they want to participate in and be a part of.  Employees become more productive when they work in an environment that doesn’t treat them like milking cows or line assembly robots. 

Being exposed to the uncertainties of the workplace can also be unnerving to many employees.  In these times when more people get laid off from work than hired, employees worry about their status and job security.

When employees can laugh, they have better control over how they react to their work and whatever opportunities there are available for them. 

And humor is highly addictive.  When things can get hectic or glum due to a problem or an impending deadline, nobody's going to throw a tantrum or cower in the corner in fear or withhold his best ideas just to spite his boss.  When employees can laugh in the workplace, they're more likely to be pleasant, cooperative and yes, productive.

Why humor works
Making employees laugh has been known to relieve tension, even in the most forbidding of circumstances at work.  Regardless of the problem, a nice, timely shot of humor helps people distance themselves emotionally from it even for just a few minutes.  By doing so, people allow their brains to rest from the problem solving task that is taking so long to resolve and give it a break.  When employees return to the task, their minds are fresher, ready for new things. 

This is also the reason why people often come up with some of the most brilliant ideas only after taking a break and having some fun.  When a joke is told or if a funny situation comes up, the mind is obliged to work differently since it is going to process new information.  It will also try to make sense of the information to try to determine why it's funny and why it's relevant.  That takes away much of the pressure.  When the pressure's off, the brain lets loose, firing up creative impulses that allows a person to look at other possibilities and avenues that have remained unexplored.

Using humor effectively
It's important to draw a line between what's acceptable and what's not.  Some jokes that can be so hilariously funny off the job can be very inappropriate and highly offensive in the workplace.  Some jokes or funny stories can be laced with sarcasm, discriminatory remarks or even bigotry. 

To keep employees productive, it is important to keep humor to a manageable level that is understood by everyone.  The workplace is uncertain and scary enough.  If employees can laugh, they're more likely to give it their best shot.

 

via NYTimes and About.com

image credits to sxc.hu